The addicting mobile phenomenon "Flappy Bird" is being taken down from app stores by it’s own developer. This news comes directly from the developers twitter account. In the tweet he said this.

Users of the game are all flocking to get a final high score before the game is removed. Now the question as to why he is taking it down exactly. In the developers previous tweets he mentions multiple times how he hates the success of the game and is overwhelmed with the reception that the game has received. This is one of three seemingly major issues that appears to have lead to the fall of "Flappy Bird". The second reason being the legal troubles with Nintendo, and the third is that he feels "People are overusing his app". If the issue was being overwhelmed with response, he would delete his twitter. This means I do not think that is the reason for removing the game. The second reason for taking down the app would be the Nintendo lawsuit. I personally think that this is the most likely reason. The only contradiction to the theory is that he tweeted "It is not anything related to legal issues." earlier in the day.

The third and final reason, the over use of the app. He is right, people are overusing his app. Although, it isn’t like people haven’t overused apps before, and you would assume that every indie developer craves the success that he is having. This, in my opinion knocks out the theory on why he is removing it.

So we are left wondering the true reason why "Flappy Bird's" flight is being cut short. All we know for sure that there are many mobile users, like myself, that are about to have a sudden surge of free time.

Playstation Now, the online Game streaming service that Sony announced at this years Consumer Electronic Show, has just entered the beta that was promised at the conference. Although there are now some who have their hands on the service, there are still many unanswered questions for those of us who don’t have a beta key. That said, the biggest question on everyone's mind is "How much will this service cost me?” This is the question that will make or break Playstation Now. I believe the best move Sony can make is to release this service by integrating it into their existing "PS Plus" service.

Andrew House unveiling PS Now at CES

PS Plus as it is, is an amazing deal. Many even say it is the best deal for the gamer in the entire industry. Costing a little over 4$ a month, members have access to free games and exclusive discounts every month. The idea of Playstation Now, downloading games to a console, fits in perfectly with what PS Plus has to offer.

Not only would it add new functionality to the service, but it would greatly enhance what is already is already offered. This enhancement would be in the form of allowing you to stream, instead of installing the games that are released through PS Plus to your console. However this instant library of streamable games, integrated with PS Plus would have one problem. The price is too low. The best thing would be to increase the price of PS Plus to a modest 9.99$/month. This is a price tag that I think most current PS Plus subscribers would feel comfortable paying. Right away, Sony would have a large portion of their users paying paying the extra few dollars a month. But why stop there? When Sony brings PS Now to mobile devices such as Iphone, Ipad, and Android devices, they will essentially be exposing a large number of new users to their brand. Because the Playstation 4 and the Xbox One are both in their first year on the market, they have only sold their new consoles to a relatively small percentage of previous gen console owners. The vast majority of these previous gen console owners have mobile devices that are capable of streaming PS Now. Because of this large install base of mobile phones and tablets, Sony has a potentially large advantage over Microsoft If PS Now and PS Plus were one singular service. It would create more reason to buy a sony console next Christmas. If a mobile user has access to a large Library of games that would function on a PS3 or PS4 system, it would make much more sense for them to buy one of those consoles, as oppose to one of Microsofts two offerings. This could potentially give sony an even greater lead in the “Next-Gen Race”.

The integration of PS Plus, and PS Now, along with a price that makes sense for the consumer could make a massive difference for sony. It could give them a massive advantage over the competition, simply because they are utilizing mobile phones in the best way possible. Harnessing the install base that they have and exposing them to the playstation brand. Perhaps in the short term Sony would make more money from a higher price on an independent PS Now service, but in the grand scheme of things, bringing more people into the playstation ecosystem will sell more consoles and games.

***Pros, Cons, Thoughts (P/C/T) is a weekly article on a subject that is not necessarily topical or relevant to what is going on in the gaming industry. Instead it is the pros and cons of a controversial topic in the gaming industry and my thoughts and opinions on it.

Pros: The developer has more time to work on the game and can feel less pressured to meet a deadline. This creates a better end experience for the player. A few months can make all the difference for a game especially if the delay is to fix bugs in the game instead of adding game dynamics.

Cons: As consumers, it is expected that the seller holds up their end of the bargain. This becomes even more of an issue when a pre-order is placed on a game. The deadline is expected to be met and money has been invested in the title before it is even released. In short, delaying shakes consumer trust in the company as a whole because they failed to meet their deadline.

Thoughts: My own personal thoughts on this subject are Game delays are a necessary evil. Although damaging to a companies reputation and at first, bad for the consumer, it creates a better product in the long run. It allows room to make the great game people have been waiting for, even better. Right now it is particularly hard to understand delaying games as 2 next-gen launch titles have been pushed back. Both are a huge loss to the launch day line up. I think Drive Club is particularly damaging for the launch of the PS4 because this was a game that almost all of the players would have access to via PS Plus day one.

As the next gen consoles get closer and closer to releasing, I find myself wondering. Where did the time go? It seems as though for the past couple of months, the next gen consoles have done absolutely nothing to excite me or make me want to buy them. In my brain it's been a fact since they were announced, that I would be buying one of these consoles the first day they release (I even pre-ordered one with games). Although recently I have forgotten why. They have done nothing spectacular to keep my interest, no great rally cry since E3 in June. Now that we are so close I feel almost no excitement or joy, I am not counting the days down, and I am not even saving the money for one. I only see these consoles as a burden on my bank account. With the lack of build up and recent delays of games I am finding it very hard to justify one of these "next-gen" machines. Truly, I am saddened by this. I wish I could be as excited as I was when they were announced because the kid in me wants to take it home from the store, rip the box apart, then download the title update. But somewhere between the spring, and today, that desire has faded away. I am not too worried though, at least I have GTA Online to play!

What do you guys think? Are you still excited for the next gen? Are you waiting to get one or will you be first in line? Also, have the Recent game delays affected your decision? Thanks for reading, and feel free to leave feedback as I am very new to this!

This entry serves as an introduction. For you it is an intro to my voice as a writer and what I plan to achieve here, for myself it is an introduction into the world of bogging and writing for fun. I want to get this out there just to break the Ice, something to prove to myself that I can post something I have written to the internet. Proof that I can attempt to get my voice herd. In the future I will be writing opinions on games, news, and whatever else I feel like is related to video games. But for now just this. I think that I have a lot to contribute in terms of discussion and I look forward to building an audience here on IGN!